Page 28 of A Secret Chance
“Into the Wild,” Lauren murmured.
“Lauren,” Charlotte pointed at her. “Your hands, they’re trembling.”
Lauren held her hands out in front of her and sure enough, they were visibly shaking.
“Let’s get you inside,” Charlotte said. She hopped out of the car and ran over to the passenger side to help Lauren into the house.
Once Lauren was settled on Charlotte’s sofa, the fireplace warming the great room, Charlotte delivered her a cup of tea and sat down beside her.
“I’m worried about you,” Charlotte said.
Lauren sighed. It wasn’t stress. It wasn’t anxiety. The biggest secret of her life, one that had been dormant for ten years, had just come alive in the very worst way possible. “Charlotte, I have to tell you something and you’re going to think that I’m crazy.”
Chapter 12
THE DINING ROOM TABLEwas layered in architectural renderings and topographical maps.
“Whoa, boss, what’s all this?” Thomas asked as he walked into the room wearing a plush white robe.
Baxter looked up from the maps. “Someone’s taking casual Friday to a new level,” he laughed.
“Oh, this?” Thomas chuckled. “We’re talking strategy in the hot tub.” He pointed to the steamy patio doors. “I could get used to this office.”
“Looks like you already are.” Baxter didn’t care. As long as they were getting work done, they could run around naked with flower crowns on their heads. He pointed to the maps. “I’m trying to figure out how to keep the density of the project, with a little less sprawl into this...” He pointed to the grizzly bear habitat.
“Oh, come on. It’s not going to come to that,” Thomas scoffed.
Baxter sighed. He knew that Thomas was right. The town, the advocates, they could all fight them, but at the end of the day, Caldwell International had millions more to spend on the fight. “But what if she’s right?” Baxter asked. “What if this project causes serious environmental damage?”
Thomas sighed. “There’s always a cost to development, Bax.” He pointed to the 3d model. “If you’re developing some kind of conscience, why not look at the economical impacts of the project. Once we’re done with this place, you’re not going to recognize this butt-fuck middle of nowhere town.”
“Do you think that’s what’s best though?” he asked. His question wasn’t addressed to Thomas. He knew his executives’ position, mow down the trees and bring on the concrete, and for the first time in a long time, he could see the impact Caldwell International made in real life. He looked out the window at the mountain peaks, the cut blocks where the loggers had clear-cut were scattered like patchwork across the mountains. His executives had no idea that their fearless leader had once been the black sheep of the Caldwell family. That he had spent his teenage years running away from the extravagance of their billion-dollar life to the solitude of the mountains. Every tree he planted gave him hope that somehow, he was offsetting the damage his family was inflicting on the environment.
“Who cares?” Thomas grinned. He raised his coffee mug at Baxter and padded out to the hot tub in his spa slippers.
Baxter sat down at the table and pulled up Lauren’s report. Attached was her environmental and economic report, prepared by one of the best firms in the state. His assistant had provided him with the executive summary, but now, Baxter pulled on his thick black-framed glasses and started to read the two-hundred-pages of technical details.
